It receives the name of Santa María La Real de O Cebreiro for having been declared a sanctuary of Royal protection, being favoured over the centuries by royal privileges.
The church, in the Pre-Romanesque style, was probably founded by Benedictine monks in the 9th century. In 1072, Alfonso VI placed it in the hands of the French monks of the Abbey of San Giraldo de Aurillac, and in the time of the Catholic Monarchs it was once again under the control of the Benedictine order, and was finally abandoned by them after the disentailment of Mendizábal in 1853. In 1963 it began to be restored along with the rest of the historical complex of O Cebreiro.
It has a rectangular floor plan with a gabled tile roof, presbytery and triumphal arch with a semicircular vault. The tower forms a portico with four pillars and semicircular arches, representing the typical architecture of the mountains of Lugo.
